Ancestors

Toot

Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 16:33

There is evidence the #PalisadeFire ravaging LA is a re-ignition of a New Years fire caused by fireworks.

What may be the most damaging natural disaster in US history (measured in inflation-adjusted dollars, as if that's a true measure of damage) was likely caused by our desire to scare dogs with colorful sky-bombs.

It's long-past time we find more sustainable ways to celebrate than explosions that contribute to, and increase damage in, our ever-warming world.

[#]ClimateChange

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Descendants

Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 16:38

For a better look at the devastation from the #PalisadeFire, NPR has tried to capture the terror and drama in photo-from, though I can't imagine they do the true damage justice.

https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/2025/01/13/g-s1-42407/see-california-wildfire-devastation-pictures-altadena-eaton-palisades

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Written by 😀🚲 on 2025-01-13 at 16:38

@FantasticalEconomics so much pollution and destruction traced back to one stupid human, in a sea of stupid human decisions 😞

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Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 16:44

@enobacon

Yeah, it's pretty amazing (in a horrifying way) how much damage individual action can do. On the plus-side, that also means we have great ability, at individuals, to make meaningful change.

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Written by 😀🚲 on 2025-01-13 at 16:49

@FantasticalEconomics are we able to access constructive power of such magnitude, or is it only violent and destructive forms of power that come so cheaply?

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Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 16:53

@enobacon

Tearing down is always easier than building up. Something something entropy.

But we have easy access to reducing our ability to thoughtlessly destroy - banning fireworks and, more importantly, changing our relationship with them (or preferences for them), being one example.

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Written by 😀🚲 on 2025-01-13 at 17:29

@FantasticalEconomics and gasoline, and heavily occupying a wooded area (which naturally burns periodically) with structures made of fuel. There will always be temptation and excuses to do the easy and fun/profitable thing, never commensurate accountability when the costs and shortcuts behind those profits come back tenfold onto the rest of us.

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Written by JJDavis :terminal: on 2025-01-13 at 16:40

@FantasticalEconomics Our local animal shelter was swamped with new lost dogs after 1 Jan. Which inevitably leads to, as they put it, "deadlines", for some of the unfortunate ones.

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Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 16:45

@jjdavis

"Deadlines" is an awful, apt euphemism for it :/

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Written by Barbara Monaco on 2025-01-13 at 18:02

@jjdavis @FantasticalEconomics 💔

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Written by DeterioratedStucco on 2025-01-13 at 16:43

@FantasticalEconomics

Source, please?

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Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 16:47

@SoftwareTheron

I read it in Axios: https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am-27e56940-d136-11ef-9649-47c71c18a828.html?chunk=2&utm_term=emshare#story2

I believe WaPo did the initial reporting. I don't have a subscription so I cannot share that.

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Written by DeterioratedStucco on 2025-01-13 at 17:55

@FantasticalEconomics Thanks.

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Written by ludo on 2025-01-13 at 16:43

@FantasticalEconomics UNFAIR! FIREWORKS ARE AMAZING!! If we just limit our fireworks celebrations to the insides of the corporate offices of fossil fuel industries, the total number of apocalyptic wildfires will go down!

[#]ResponsibleFireWorks

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Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 16:50

@ludosansfin

I laughed at that (after smoothing out my hackles that raised in preparation to scare off a reply-guy invading my post teeritory). Well played.

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Written by ludo on 2025-01-13 at 19:26

@FantasticalEconomics yeah, it's a fine line, sometimes. I'm happy the humor landed

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Written by Real Syntactic on 2025-01-13 at 16:44

@FantasticalEconomics and traumatize dogs and anyone who has survived gun- or explosives-based violence.

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Written by Andrew Prall on 2025-01-13 at 16:50

@FantasticalEconomics The lack of critical thinking is heartbreaking. So many people have difficulty tracing or comprehending the impact of our actions.

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Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 16:54

@dr_prall

Fully agree. Lack of critical thinking coupled with short-termism and selfishness does a world of damage.

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Written by Chancerubbage on 2025-01-13 at 17:37

@FantasticalEconomics @rdgit

There are also theories of intentional arson.

I would watch who redevelops these large subdivisions with a very keen eye.

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Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 17:48

@Chancerubbage @rdgit

Regardless of how the fires started, capitalists will work to extract all the value they can from the disaster.

Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine" does a great job capturing how the the powerful eagerly await (if not outright work to bring about) disasters to profit from the ensuing desperation.

We can watch #DisasterCapitalism unfold in real time in LA.

[#]Economics

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Written by Chancerubbage on 2025-01-13 at 19:11

@FantasticalEconomics @rdgit

Thanks for reminding me of Klein’s book, I have had it on a reading list for awhile and have recently been thinking of it again as something to check out.

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Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 19:52

@Chancerubbage

Absolutely. It's one of my favorites.

She does a fantastic job showing how the closer I've gets to the neoliberal, free market "ideal" the worse outcomes get for everyone except the already wealthy who exploit the system.

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Written by Mr. Funk E. Dude on 2025-01-13 at 17:39

@FantasticalEconomics I don't think any drones have started fires yet have they?

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Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 17:57

@Mrfunkedude

Not to my knowledge. It would require a drone to crash then have it not recovered/cleaned up and for the crash to create more heat/sparks than would probably be typical for a drone crash to ignite something (the last point is mostly guesswork as I am no expert in drones).

So, yeah, I would be shocked if drone displays ever become major causes of fires.

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Written by Joe on 2025-01-13 at 18:30

@FantasticalEconomics While that may be the case, the fire conditions were so extreme that something was guaranteed to set off big fires. If anyone reading this thinks that if there were no fireworks celebrations, LA County would not be burning up right now, sorry, that's just not the case.

And the Palisades fire is just one of many in the area.

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Written by Kyle Montanio on 2025-01-13 at 19:49

@not2b

I'm not fully convinced.

1. The Palisades Fire is by far the largest and most impactful.

2. Reducing the likelihood of fires will decrease damages from fires (at least in the short-run, you could make an argument that more chances for fire acts as a (un) controlled burn to reduce long-term damage; but that is hard to do convincingly).

3. There is no guarantee this fire would be as big if delayed later into the season when more precipitation is likely.

=> View attached media

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